Fibers with surface markings used for coding

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are fibers comprising one or more branded fibers which exhibit surface markings in a repeated pattern along the length of the branded fibers. The branded fibers can be incorporated into yarns or fiber bands to represent supply chain information of the yarns, fiber bands, and/or articles made from the yards or fiber bands. In a specific example, branded fibers can be incorporated into an acetate tow band The branded fibers can be recovered from a cigarette filter, the repeated pattern decoded, and supply chain information associated with the acetate tow used to make the cigarette filter, such as manufacturer, customer, ship to location, and even the acetate tow bale, can be obtained.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. Non-Provisionalapplication Ser. No. 15/225,872 filed on Aug. 2, 2016 which is aDivisional Application of U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No.14/748,865 filed on Jun. 24, 2015 which claims priority under 35 U.S.C.119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/018182, filed Jun.27, 2014, U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/105011, filed Jan.19, 2015, and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/164135, filed May20, 2015, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This present disclosure relates to fibers, a fiber band, or a yarncontaining branded fibers. The branded fibers can exhibit a repeatedpattern of surface markings. The repeated pattern of surface markingscan correlate to supply chain information of the fiber band or yarn. Thepresent disclosure also relates to the method for making andcharacterizing the fiber band or yarn containing the branded fibers.Characterizing of the fiber band or yarn can include isolating thebranded fibers, decoding the repeated pattern of surface markings, andcorrelating the repeated pattern of surface markings to supply chaininformation. The supply chain information can be used to track the fiberband or yarn from manufacturing through intermediaries, conversion tofinal product, and/or the consumer.

BACKGROUND

Many industries have a need to mark, tag, or identify products thatallows for the tracking and tracing of products through the supplychain. One of the primary purposes for such track and trace systems isthe combating of illicit trade such as counterfeiting and black marketsales.

Anti-counterfeiting measures (ACMs) can be regarded as three differenttypes: Type I (Overt), Type II (Covert) and Type III (Forensic). Type IACMs are features incorporated into an article that are readilyidentified and observable to the naked eye. Examples include watermarks,color shifting inks, colored fibers, bands, or strips incorporated intothe article, and holograms. Type II ACMs are features that areincorporated into the article that require some form of instrument toidentify the feature in the field. The instruments required aregenerally those that are readily available and transportable. Someexamples include the incorporation of very small text (requiring the useof a magnifying glass), UV responsive inks or threads (requiringillumination with a UV light), and barcodes or RFID tags (requiring aspecialized reader). Type III ACMs are hidden attributes that requirespecialized laboratory equipment to identify. Some Type III examplesinclude nano-text, micro-taggants, DNA inks, and chemical additives.

As stated above, there are many widely-used packaging and labellingtaggants and anti-counterfeiting measures (ACMs) in many industries, butthese more overt solutions are often susceptible to countermeasures suchas destruction, modification, duplication, repackaging, or relabeling.Altering the physical features of the raw materials of a product canprovide a more covert solution that is much more difficult to evade.These taggants may be used to track the fibers through the supply chain.The taggants may change the physical properties of the fibers, yarnfiber bands, and/or derivative articles in a manner that is difficult tocopy or alter but is detectable using image analysis and/or othermechanical methods.

There is a need to manufacture, test, and track fibers in fiber bands oryarns and their derivative articles across a wide spectrum ofindustries. The ability to identify the source of a fiber band, yarnand/or an article comprising the fiber band or yarn can be achieved byembedding some form of a code in the fiber(s) during the manufacturingprocess that can then be later identified, retrieved, and used toidentify the fiber band and/or the article.

Identification tags can be incorporated into the fibers, fiber band, oryarn that can denote, for example, manufacturer, manufacture site,customer, and ship-to location among other supply chain information thatmight be useful for the track and trace of the fiber band, yarn and/orarticle.

The disclosed exemplary embodiments can be used, for example, to combatthe continuing and growing illicit-trade problem of tobacco products,particularly cigarettes. It has been estimated that 10-12% of allcigarette sales are illicit, either counterfeit copies or sales thatavoid paying excise taxes on the cigarettes (Tobacco International,“Tackling Illicit Trade, Pt. I,” December 2013). To combat this illicittrade requires a global effort consisting of manufacturers,distributors, regulators, and customs/law enforcement, as well asretailers who sell the cigarettes to consumers. There is a need to beable to track and ultimately trace components used in the constructionof a cigarette. For example, the ability to track part of the supplychain path of acetate tow contained in the filter of a black marketcigarette may give helpful information on the source of these illicitcigarettes.

Manufacturers of acetate tow typically assign a bale identifier (e.g.,number) to each bale of acetate tow produced. Upon assignment, the balenumber is associated with supply chain components such as manufacturer,manufacturing site, manufacturing line, production run, and productiondate. As the bale of acetate tow moves through the supply chain,additional supply chain components such as, for example, customer andship-to location can be associated with the bale number. In other words,acetate tow manufacturers have systems in place to track and trace someof the supply chain components for bales of acetate tow. Currently,however, an equivalent of a bale number is not encoded in the acetatetow band itself. Therefore, once the label is removed from a bale ofacetate tow or the acetate tow band is converted into a filter rod orcigarette filter, the supply chain information is lost.

There is a need for a traceable acetate tow that is readilymanufactured, does not impact the performance of a cigarette filter, andis detectable, not only in an acetate tow band, but also in a single ora set of cigarettes/cigarette filters. There is a need for a traceableacetate tow that is readily accepted by cigarette manufacturers andconsumers, such as an acetate tow that does not require adding chemicalswhich may impact taste and/or require regulatory approval. There is aneed for traceable acetate tow that does not impact the pressure dropand yield of a cigarette filter. There is a need for traceable acetatetow that maintains its traceability when bloomed, plasticized, andformed into a filter.

There is a need for traceable acetate tow that contains supply chaininformation including a manufacturer, the customer, or the ship-tolocation such that the information can be decoded from a single or a setof cigarettes. There is a further need for traceable acetate tow withsupply chain information at the level of the acetate tow bale in orderto implement a traceable acetate tow system with minimal supply chaincosts and complexities.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The embodiments disclose fibers comprising standard fibers one or moreidentification fibers. Each of the identification fibers exhibits atleast one distinct feature. The identification fibers comprise one ormore branded fibers. The branded fibers exhibit the distinct featurescomprising one or more taggant surface markings. The taggant surfacemarkings form a repeated pattern along a length of the branded fibers.The taggant surface markings and the repeated pattern are representativeof at least one supply chain component of the standard fibers.

Additional disclosed embodiments include an acetate tow band comprisingfibers. The fibers comprise one or more identification fibers andstandard fibers and the standard fibers comprise cellulose acetate. Eachof the identification fibers exhibits at least one distinct feature. Theidentification fibers comprise one or more branded fibers. The brandedfibers exhibit the distinct features comprising one or more taggantsurface markings. The taggant surface markings form a repeated patternalong a length of the branded fibers. The taggant surface markings andthe repeated pattern are representative of at least one supply chaincomponent of the acetate tow band.

Further embodiments encompass methods of making an acetate tow bandcomprising fibers. The fibers comprise standard fibers andidentification fibers and the standard fibers comprise celluloseacetate. The method comprises: (a) obtaining the identification fibers;(b) producing the standard fibers on a first fiber production process;and (c) combining the identification fibers and the standard fibers intothe acetate tow band. Each of the identification fibers exhibits atleast one distinct feature. The identification fibers comprise one ormore branded fibers. The branded fibers exhibit the distinct featurescomprising one or more taggant surface markings. The taggant surfacemarkings form a repeated pattern along a length of the branded fibers.The taggant surface markings and the repeated pattern are representativeof at least one supply chain component of the acetate tow band.

Yet additional embodiments encompass methods of characterizing a fibersample. The fiber sample comprises fibers and the fibers comprisestandard fibers and identification fibers. Each of the identificationfibers exhibits at least one distinct feature. The identification fiberscomprise one or more branded fibers. The branded fibers exhibit thedistinct features comprising one or more taggant surface markings. Thetaggant surface markings form a repeated pattern along a length of thebranded fibers. The method comprises (1) optionally separating thebranded fibers from the fiber sample; (2) applying imaging technology tothe branded fibers; (3) determining the repeated pattern of the taggantsurface markings. The taggant surface markings and the repeated patternare representative of at least one supply chain component of the fibersample.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic process flow diagram of a non-limitingembodiment of branding fibers while coproducing acetate tow fibers andcombining them into an acetate tow band.

FIG. 2 illustrates the printer settings for Example 1.

FIG. 3A shows a photomicrograph of a branded nylon monofilament that hasbeen recovered from a filter rod and 3B shows a photomicrograph of abranded polyester thread that has been recovered from a crimped acetatetow band.

FIG. 4 shows a photomicrograph of an acrylic monofilament fiber engravedusing a MACSA carbon dioxide laser

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate non-limiting examples of communication andshipping channels among one or more entities consistent with disclosedembodiments

FIG. 6 illustrates a non-limiting example of a computing system used byone or more entities consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates a non-limiting example of a process for embeddingsupply chain information into fibers, consistent with disclosedembodiments.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate non-limiting examples of processes forgenerating correlation data, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates a non-limiting example of a process for producingidentification fibers, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates a non-limiting example of a process for identifyingsupply chain information from a sample, consistent with disclosedembodiments.

FIG. 12 illustrates a non-limiting example of a process for assigningtaggant information to supply chain components, consistent withdisclosed embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments disclose fibers comprising one or more identificationfibers. Each of the identification fibers exhibits at least one distinctfeature. The identification fibers comprise one or more branded fibers.The branded fibers exhibit the distinct features comprising one or moretaggant surface markings. The taggant surface markings form a repeatedpattern along a length of the branded fibers. The taggant surfacemarkings and the repeated pattern are representative of at least onesupply chain component of the standard fibers.

Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities ofingredients, properties such as molecular weight, reaction conditions,and so forth used in the specification and claims are to be understoodas being modified in all instances by the term “about.”

It is to be understood that the mention of one or more process stepsdoes not preclude the presence of additional process steps before orafter the combined recited steps or intervening process steps betweenthose steps expressly identified. Moreover, the lettering of processsteps or ingredients is a convenient means for identifying discreteactivities or ingredients and the recited lettering can be arranged inany sequence, unless otherwise indicated.

As used herein the term “and/or,” when used in a list of two or moreitems, means that any one of the listed items can be employed by itself,or any combination of two or more of the listed items can be employed.For example, if a composition is described as containing components A,B, and/or C, the composition can contain A alone; B alone; C alone; Aand B in combination; A and C in combination; B and C in combination; orA, B, and C in combination.

The term “fibers”, as used herein, refers to thin flexible threadlikeobjects. Fibers can be natural fibers or man-made. The term “polymer”,as used herein refers to the base material from which the fibers aremade. Non-limiting examples of polymers include acrylic, modacrylic,aramid, nylon, polyester, polypropylene, rayon, polyacrylonitrile,polyethylene, PTFE, and cellulose acetate. The term “filament”, as usedherein, refers to a single fiber. The term “fiber band”, as used herein,refers to multiple fibers placed adjacent to each other along theirlengths such that the fibers remain untwisted or entangled and form asubstantially rectangular cross section with a high width-to-depthratio. Fiber bands are often formed to allow for effective crimping ofthe fibers and can be cut into a staple or processed as a continuousband, depending on the end use. Fiber bands are typically not woven orknitted into a fabric article unless first converted into staple to forma thread. Fibers can also be in the form of yarns. The term “yarn, asused herein, refers to multiple fibers placed adjacent to each otheralong their lengths, often twisted or entangled together to improvefiber cohesiveness and performance, and typically forming asubstantially rounded cross section. Yarn can be processed as continuousstrands or cut into smaller lengths, depending on the end use.

Fibers can be identification fibers and/or standard fibers. The term“standard fibers”, as used herein, refers to fibers which aremanufactured for the primary purpose and use in producing articles.Standard fibers have not been purposefully manipulated to comprisedistinct features used to identify and track the standard fibers, yarn,a fiber band, and/or an article comprising standard fibers. The term“identification fibers”, as used herein, refers to the fibers havingdistinct features such that the identification fibers can be used toidentify and track the standard fibers, yarn, a fiber band, and/or anarticle comprising the standard fibers and the identification fibers.

The term “distinct features”, as used herein, refers to variances amongfibers that can be identified using imaging technology. Non-limitingexamples of distinct features include cross-section shapes,cross-section sizes, optical properties, and surface markings. The term“combination of distinct features”, as used herein, refers to the two ormore distinct features exhibited by an identification fiber.

The term, “optical properties”, as used herein, refers toelectromagnetic radiation responses observed when the fibers are exposedto a specific electromagnetic radiation sources. The term includes colorwhich can be observed with the human eye as well as with an instrumentsuch as one capable of identifying a spectrophotometric signature.Non-limiting examples of electromagnetic radiation include x-ray,ultraviolet, visible light, infrared, and so-called “T-ray” (terahertzfrequencies). The term “taggant optical properties”, as used hereinrefers to a collection of known optical properties used by one or moremanufacturer in a system for determining fibers, fiber band, and/or yarnsupply chain information.

The term, “surface markings”, as used herein, refers to variances in thefibers produced by physically altering the fiber surface. Non-limitingexamples include engraving the fiber, morphological modification,printing on the fiber surface, and chemically producing a pattern ofoptical properties. The term “taggant surface markings”, as used hereinrefers to a collection of known surface markings used by one or moremanufacturer in a system for determining chain information.

The term “alphanumeric code”, as used herein, refers to information thatis represented using the characters or letterings belonging to a commonalphabetic and numerical system or language, including specialcharacters such as punctuation marks and including any script orprinting style for that language. Non-limiting examples include theLatin alphabet, Roman numerals, and Arabic numbering.

The term “digital code”, as used herein, refers to information that isrepresented using a string of discrete, discontinuous values.Non-limiting examples include binary coding systems, Morse Code, barcoding systems (including 1-D linear and 2-D matrix),

The term “analog code”, as used herein, refers to information that isrepresented by modulating a continuously variable physical quantity suchas spatial position, a dimension, or a magnitude.

The term an “ideographic code”, as used herein, refers to informationthat is represented by a graphic symbol or pictograph, independent ofany particular language or alphanumeric system.

The term “metadata”, as used herein, refers to a portion or multipleportions of the pattern that represents a code that contains informationabout the remaining code within the pattern. Non-limiting examples ofthis information includes the format, read-start position, read-endposition, read direction of any code the pattern represents. Themetadata could also include information that represents the manufacturerof the fiber. The metadata may use the same or similar coding system asthat used for the remaining portion of the pattern or it may use adifferent coding system to easily differentiate it from the remainingportion of the pattern.

The term “read-start position,” as used herein, refers to the positionwhere a code or a portion of a code begins.

The term “read-end position,” as used herein, refers to the positionwhere a code or a portion of a code ends.

The term “read-direction,” as used herein, refers to the lineardirection a particular portion of the code must be read to reliablydecode the information.

The term “the repeated pattern is essentially one-dimensional”, as usedherein, refers to a pattern where the useful information associated withthe pattern is along one direction or can be determined by observing thevariation along a single line through the pattern.

The term “engraving”, as used herein, refers to the removal of materialfrom the fiber surface or the creation of raised or recessed areas onthe fiber surface such that the resulting discontinuities in the fibersurface can be detected optically or by other analytical means.Engraving can be performed by contact equipment, such as equipment thatuses abrasive surfaces, blades, or embossers, or by noncontactequipment, such as lasers or other high energy radiation sources.

The term “laser engraving”, as used herein, refers the use of a laser toengrave the surface of a fiber.

The term “morphological modification”, as used herein, refers to achange in the physical form or condition of the fiber or the fibersurface such that the change can be observed optically, either manuallyor through magnification, or through other analytical techniques.Non-limiting examples of morphological modification include changes totexture, roughness, opacity, crystallinity, density, or degree ofpolymer orientation. Morphology modification can be performed by contactequipment, such as equipment that uses abrasive surfaces, or bynoncontact equipment such as lasers or other high energy radiationsources.

The term “vary along the length”, as used herein, refers to the use ofvarious levels and/or patterns of one or more surface markings along thelength of an identification fiber. The term, “repeating patterns”, asused herein, refers to a repeated identical sequence of surface makingsalong the length of the identification fibers. Each repeated pattern isrepresentative of the same code of the same information.

The term “essentially not susceptible to solvent bonding”, as usedherein, refers to a condition such that the fibers are not, under thenormal processing conditions of the fibers or the articles made from thefibers, sufficiently soluble in a bonding agent to allow for permanentbonding at the contacting points of two or more fibers when the bondingagent is present at the contact points.

The term “essentially insoluble in a solvent”, as used herein, refers toa condition such that the fibers are not sufficiently soluble in asolvent such that when exposed to that solvent under a certain set ofconditions, the fiber and any surface markings remain detectable.

The term “dissolved portion of the fiber sample”, as used herein, refersto a solution containing the dissolved standard fibers and thedissolving solvent, to the exclusion of any non-soluble identificationfibers in the sample.

The term, “cellulose acetate”, as used herein, refers to an acetateester of cellulose wherein the hydrogen in the hydroxyl groups of thecellulose glucose unit is replaced by acetyl groups through anacetylation reaction. In some embodiments, suitable cellulose acetatesmay have a degree of substitution less than about 3 acetyl groups perglucose unit, preferably in the range of 2.2 to about 2.8, and mostpreferably in the range of 2.4 to 2.7.

The terms, “cellulose acetate tow”, “acetate tow”, or “acetate tow band”as used herein, refers to a continuous, crimped fiber band comprising ofcellulose acetate fibers.

The term, “article”, as used herein, refers to a unit produced fromstandard fibers, yarn, and/or a fiber band, including other componentsand additives needed to meet the functional requirements of the intendeduse. Non-limiting examples include fabrics and other textile products,non-wovens, absorbent products, filters, filter rods, cigarette filtersand liquid storage reservoirs. The term “article comprising fibers, yarnand/or fiber bands”, as used herein, refers to the article comprisingthe fibers, yarn and/or fiber bands with a recognition that, in someembodiments, significant physical changes can occur to the fibers, yarnand/or fiber band, when it is used to make an article.

The term, “filter”, as used herein refers to a semi-permeable fibrousmaterial. Non-limiting examples of filters include a filter rod, anditems made from a filter rod such as a cigarette filter. The term“filter rod”, as used herein, refers to a rod-like article, of anycross-sectional shape, produced from a fiber band and other componentsor additives, which can be subsequently used as a whole unit, or cutinto lengths to form multiple units, for filtration of a vapor stream.Filter rods can be used to filter tobacco products, for example,traditional cigarette filters and/or other applications for othertobacco products including heat-not-burn products. Filter rods can alsobe used for new products comprising tobacco and other ingredients suchas, for example, other plants or plant derivatives. Filter rods can beused to filter other plants and plant derivatives, with or withouttobacco present. Additionally filter rods can be used to filter anyvapor stream used to deliver an active ingredient such as ine-cigarette.

The term, “cigarette filter”, as used herein, refers to a component ofthe cigarette or other smoking device which removes or decreases one ormore elements from a smoke stream. The term cigarette filter is intendedto encompass the filter on any smoking device including the non-limitingexamples of a cigarette, a cigarette holder, a cigar, a cigar holder, apipe, a water pipe, a hookah, an electronic smoking device, aroll-your-own cigarette, a roll-your-own cigar, and a paper.

The term, “supply chain information” as used herein, refers toinformation regarding the production of the standard fibers, yarn,and/or fiber band and information regarding the distribution of thestandard fibers, yarn, and/or fiber band after its production. Supplychain information includes “supply chain components” such as, forexample, manufacturer, manufacture site, manufacture line, productionrun, production date, a package, bale, customer, customer ship-tolocation, warehouses, freight carrier, and/or shipment paths or routes.Supply chain components can apply to fibers, yarn, fiber bands, and/orarticles.

The term, “manufacturer”, as used herein, refers to the entity thatproduces the standard fibers, yarn and/or fiber band.

The term “manufacture site”, as used herein, refers to the geographiclocation or locations of the manufacturer, designated by any level ofspecificity including full address, continent, country, state, province,county, or city.

The term “manufacture line”, as used herein, refers to specific processequipment or set of equipment used by the manufacturer to produce thestandard fibers, yarn, and/or fiber band.

The term “production run”, as used herein, refers to a group or set ofsimilar or related goods that are produced by using a particular set ofmanufacturing procedures, processes, or conditions and/or productspecifications.

The term “customer”, as used herein, refers to an entity to which thefibers, fiber band, and/or yarn is sold and shipped for furtherprocessing into an intermediate article or a finished product article;or an entity that purchases the fibers, yarn and/or fiber band forresale.

The term, “ship-to location”, as used herein, refers to the geographiclocation of the customer designated for delivery of the fibers, yarnand/or, fiber band by any level of specificity including full address,continent, country, state, province, county, or city.

The term, “bale” as used herein, refers to a packaged unit of fiberbands, typically of a cubical shape, compressed to a high density, andwrapped, contained, and protected by packaging material.

The term, “warehouse” as used herein, refers to the geographicallocation of the warehouse designated for delivery of the fibers, yarnand/or, fiber band by any level of specificity including full address,continent, country, state, province, country, or city.

The term, “correlating”, as used herein refers to establishing therelationship between two or more pieces of information.

The term, “manufacturer specific taggants”, as used herein, refers tothe particular taggants incorporated into fibers, yarn and/or, fiberband by a particular manufacturer. The term, “manufacturer specifictaggant set” refers to the taggant cross-section shapes and/or taggantcross-section sizes associated with a particular manufacturer.

The term, “fibers are produced”, “producing fibers”, and “fiberproduction process”, as used herein, refers to the process steps ofspinning fibers up through the gathering of the fibers.

The term “concurrently to producing”, as used herein, refers to processof surface marking identification fibers at the same time that thestandard fibers are being produced, either prior to or after theidentification fibers are combined with the standard fibers.

The term, “identification fibers are packaged”, as used herein, refersto the process steps of transferring identification fibers from thespinning machine and packaging the identification fibers, for example,onto a spool or into a bale. The identification fibers wouldsubsequently need to be removed from the package in order to beincorporated into fibers, yarns, fiber band, and/or article comprisingthe standard fibers.

The term “fiber sample”, as used herein, refers to the item comprisingfibers, in any physical form, being analyzed using imaging technology.The fiber sample can comprise a portion of a set of fibers, yarn, afiber band, or an article which has been prepared for image analysis.

The terms, “imaging technology”, and “image analysis techniques” as usedherein, refer to the equipment and software used to detect and quantifydifferences in reflection, absorption, transmission, and emittance ofelectromagnetic radiation. Imaging technology encompasses bothelectromagnetic radiation level detection and automated shape and/orsize recognition.

Fibers, a fiber band, and/or a yarn comprise individual fibers. Thematerial from which the fibers are made is not particularly limiting.The fibers can comprise, for example, acrylic, modacrylic, aramid,nylon, polyester, polypropylene, rayon, or cellulose acetate. In oneaspect, the fibers comprise cellulose acetates, cellulose triacetates,cellulose propionates, cellulose butyrates, celluloseacetate-propionates, cellulose acetate-butyrates, cellulosepropionate-butyrates, cellulose acetate-phthalates, starch acetates,acrylonitriles, vinyl chlorides, vinyl esters, vinyl ethers, and thelike, any derivative thereof, any copolymer thereof, and any combinationthereof. In one aspect, the fibers comprise cellulose acetate. In oneaspect, the fibers comprise natural fibers such as, for example, cotton,hemp, and/or silk.

In one aspect, the fibers, fiber band, or yarn comprises standard fibersand one or more identification fibers. Fibers are typically producedfrom a polymer. In one aspect, one or more of the identification fiberscomprise the same polymer as the standard fibers. In another aspect, oneor more of the identification fibers comprise a different polymer thanthe standard fibers band. In one aspect, the taggant surface markingsand the repeated pattern are representative of a code of the fibers. Inother aspects the fibers comprise identification fibers and standardfibers and the code is representative of at least one supply chaincomponent of the fibers and/or standard fibers.

The size of the individual fibers is not particularly limiting. The sizecan be given in terms of effective diameter, and in one aspect, theeffective diameter of the fibers range, for example, from 0.1 μm to 1000μm, 1 μm to 500 μm, 1 μm to 100 μm, 1 μm to 30 μm, 10 μm to 1000 μm, 10μm to 500 μm, 10 μm to 100 μm, 10 μm to 30 μm. In one aspect, thestandard fibers comprise cellulose acetate for which size is often givenin terms of denier per filament (dpf) which is defined as the weight, ingrams, of a single filament 9000 meters in length. In one aspect, thesize of the fibers ranges from 0.5 to 1000 dpf; 0.5 to 500 dpf; 0.5 to100; 0.5 to 5 dpf; 0.5 to 30 dpf; 0.5 to 10 dpf; 1 to 1000 dpf; 1 to 500dpf; 1 to 100; 1 to 5 dpf; 1 to 30 dpf; 1 to 10 dpf. In one aspect, thedpf of the fibers ranges from, for example, 1 to 30 dpf, 1 to 20 dpf, 1to 10 dpf, 2 to 30 dpf, 2 to 20 dpf, or 2 to 10 dpf.

The number of fibers making up a fiber band is not particularlylimiting. In one aspect, the number of fibers in a fiber band can rangefrom 10 to 50,000. In other non-limiting examples, the number of fibersin a fiber band ranges from 10 to 40,000; 10 to 30,000; 10 to 20,000; 10to 10,000; 10 to 1000; 100 to 50,000; 100 to 40,000; 100 to 30,000; 100to 20,000; 100 to 10,000; 100 to 1000; 200 to 50,000; 200 to 40,000; 200to 30,000; 200 to 20,000; 200 to 10,000; 200 to 1000; 1000 to 50,000;1000 to 40,000; 1000 to 30,000; 1000 to 20,000; 1000 to 10,000; 5000 to50,000; 5000 to 40,000; 5000 to 30,000; 5000 to 20,000; 5000 to 10,000;10,000 to 50,000; 10,000 to 40,000; 10,000 to 30,000; or 10,000 to20,000.

Identification fibers can comprise one or more branded fibers. Thebranded fibers exhibit one or more taggant surface markings wherein thetaggant surface markings form a repeated pattern along the length of thebranded fibers. In one aspect, branded fibers can be a monofilamentwherein the taggant surface markings form a repeated pattern along thelength of the monofilament. In other aspects, the branded fibers can bea thread or yarn wherein the taggant surface markings form a repeatedpattern along the length of the thread or yarn. The repeated pattern canbe representative of a code which can correlate to information such as,for example, supply chain information.

In some aspects, the repeated pattern comprises an alphanumeric code, adigital code, an analog code, or an ideographic code. In some aspects,the repeated pattern comprises an alphanumeric code or a digital code.In some aspects, the repeated pattern comprises a digital code.

The repeated pattern along the length of the branded fibers may includemetadata. The metadata can be useful in reading the pattern on thebranded fibers. The metadata can be especially useful if the length ofthe branded fiber incorporated into an article is approximately the samesize or smaller than the length of the repeated pattern. In one aspect,the metadata comprises read-start position, read-end position, readdirection, or the spacing of the digits within the code.

The digital code of the repeated pattern is not particularly limited. Insome aspects the pattern is in the form of a bar code, either a 1-Dlinear or 2-D matrix type code. In some aspects the pattern could be avisual representation of a Morse code. In some aspects the digital codecomprises a binary code. In one aspect, the repeated pattern isessentially one-dimensional.

In one aspect, the digital code is a binary coding system, the twoconditions or characters of each binary digit can be the presence orabsence of a surface marking in a digit or location. In an alternativeaspect, the two conditions could be one of two different surfacemarkings in a digit. In some aspects the digital code could be a binaryrepresentation of a place-value system of base x, where x is a power of2 (or a binary). In one aspect, for example, when large number ofcombinations or integer values is to be coded, a hexadecimal (base 16)numbering system can be used to provide a notation that is more compactthan a simple binary string. In a non-limiting illustration of such ahexadecimal system, 4 binary digits could make up each digit of thehexadecimal code, providing the 16 combinations or conditions for eachof the hexadecimal digits. Base-x numbering systems can also berepresented by x-number of unique surface markings in any digit orspacial location. In a non-limiting example, 5 different color dots canform the basis of a base-5 numbering system.

Multiple numbering or coding systems may be used in a single string ofencoded information. In some aspects, the repeated pattern can contain aportion of binary coding with the sequence used to represent themanufacturer of the fiber or article and another portion of the patternthat is a binary representation of a hexadecimal system used torepresent unique bale numbers of the manufacturer.

One skilled in the art recognizes that the selection of the number ofdigits for the binary code depends upon the complexity of informationbeing captured and the space available for the taggant surface markings.In one aspect, the number of digits in the binary code ranges from 2 to500. In other non-limiting examples, the number of digits in the binarycode ranges from 4 to 100, 10 to 100, 20 to 100, 4 to 50, 10 to 50, or20 to 50.

One skilled in the art also recognizes that the length of the repeatedpattern on the fibers may be influenced by the length the fiberincorporated in typical articles. In one aspect, the length of therepeated pattern ranges from 2 mm to 500 mm. In other non-limitingexamples, the length of the repeated pattern ranges from 2 to 200 mm, 2to 30 mm, 10 to 200 mm, or 10 to 30 mm.

The manner in which the repeated pattern appears on the branded fiber isnot particularly limited, so long as the pattern is recognizable.Non-limiting examples of how the repeated pattern is incorporated on thebranded fiber include printing, engraving, morphological modificationsof the fiber, or chemically producing a pattern of optical properties.

In some aspects, the fibers further comprise standard fibers. In someaspects, the branded fibers are readily separated from the standardfibers by either physical or chemical means. In order to facilitate theseparation of the branded fibers, the branded fiber can comprise adifferent polymer than the standard fibers. In some aspects, the brandedfibers are essentially insoluble in a solvent, wherein the standardfibers are soluble in that same solvent. In some aspects the brandedfibers are essentially insoluble in acetone or methylene chloride. Insome aspects, the branded fibers are essentially not susceptible tocold-solvent bonding with triacetin or any other solvent or plasticizerthat is used to form an article by solvent-bonding the standard fibers.In some aspects, the branded fibers comprise acrylic, modacrylic,aramid, nylon, polyester, polypropylene, rayon, polyacrylonitrile,polyethylene, cellulose triacetate, or PTFE.

An article can comprise the fibers, yarn, and/or a fiber band. Thearticle is not particularly limited. Non-limiting examples of articlescomprising the fibers or the fiber band include fabrics and othertextile products, non-wovens, absorbent products, filters, filter rods,cigarette filters, liquid storage reservoirs, paper and/or currency. Inone aspect, the article comprises a filter rod. In another aspect, thearticle comprises a cigarette filter. Additional non-limited examples ofarticles include medical items such as medical tape, bandages, or cloth,wicking devices used for vapor delivery, and pharmaceutical productsincluding packaging.

In one aspect, the fibers, yarn, fiber band, and/or article havedeterminable supply chain information. The supply chain information caninclude manufacturer, manufacture site, manufacturing line, productionrun, production date, package, bale, warehouse, customer, and/or ship-tolocation.

In one aspect, the supply chain information comprises supply chaincomponents. In one aspect, at least one supply chain component comprisesa manufacturer of the standard fibers, a manufacture site of thestandard fibers, a manufacturing line of the standard fibers, aproduction run of the standard fibers, a production date of the standardfibers, a package of the standard fibers, a warehouse of the standardfibers, a customer of the standard fibers, a ship-to location of thestandard fibers, a manufacturer of a yarn or fiber band comprising thestandard fibers, a manufacturing site of the yarn or fiber band, amanufacturing line of the yarn or fiber band, a production run of theyarn or fiber band, a production date of the yarn or fiber band, apackage of the yarn or fiber band, a warehouse of the yarn or fiberband, a customer of the yarn or fiber band, a ship-to location of theyarn or fiber band, a manufacturer of an article comprising the standardfibers, a manufacture site of the article, a manufacturing line of thearticle, a production run of the article, a production date of thearticle, a package of the article, a warehouse of the article, acustomer of the article, or a ship-to location of the article.

In another aspect at least one supply chain component comprises themanufacturer of the yarn or fiber band. In one aspect, the supply chaincomponent comprises the manufacture site of the yarn or fiber band. Inone aspect the supply chain component comprises the manufacturing lineof the yarn or fiber band. The manufacturing line of the yarn or fiberband is the manufacturing line on which the yarn or fiber band wasproduced. In one aspect, the supply chain component comprises theproduction run of the yarn or fiber band. The production run of the yarnor fiber band is the production run within which the yarn or fiber bandwas produced. In one aspect, the supply chain component comprises theproduction date of the yarn or fiber band. The production date of theyarn or fiber band is the production date on which the yarn or fiberband was produced. In one aspect, the supply chain component comprisesthe package of the yarn or bale of the fiber band. In one aspect, thesupply chain component comprises the warehouse of the yarn or fiberband. The warehouse of the yarn or fiber band is the warehouse to whichthe manufacturer plans to send or has sent the fiber band. In oneaspect, the supply chain component comprises the customer of the yarn orfiber band. The customer of the yarn or fiber band is the customer towhom the manufacturer plans to send or has sent the yarn or fiber band.In one aspect, the supply chain component comprises the ship-to locationof the yarn or fiber band. The ship-to location of the yarn or fiberband is the specific geographic location to which the manufacturer plansto send or has sent the yarn or fiber band.

The following is a non-limiting illustration of a possible binary codingsystem that demonstrates the ability to create many different codecombinations on the branded fiber contained within a typical cigarettefilter.

In the work of Example 1 below, the length of the crimped monofilamentfiber or thread within a typical 21 mm length cigarette filter was shownto be approximately 25.2 mm. In addition, a spacing of printed marks of0.5 mm was shown to be readily achievable using the printer of theexample. Such a spacing applied to a 25 mm fiber length would allow upto 50 bits or digits to be encoded on the branded fiber within eachcigarette filter. Each bit would contain binary-type (0 or 1)information corresponding to existence or non-existence of a printedmark within the space.

In order to eliminate translational and rotational decoding errors indecoding, metadata in the form of a header may be desired with the codedsequence. The header could provide read start and read directioninformation. Such a header would allow for the reliable decoding of anyone cigarette filter with a coding frequency as low as one code percigarette filter. The header could take the form of a binary sequencedesigned such that it could not be confused with the characters of thecode itself. For example, for a hexadecimal system in binary notation,the 10 bit sequence 0011111010 might be used.

Of the remaining 40 bits of the 50 bits available of this example, 39bits could be used to express 8 hexadecimal characters in binary (8×4digits, plus spaces between each 4-digit character) to encode a sequencethat would take the form (####_####_####_####_####_####_####_####). Withthis format, 4,294,967,296 unique codes could be generated or, by usingstandard binary numbering, the numbers 0 to 4,294,967,295 could begenerated. These codes or numbers could be correlated to supply chaininformation, such as bale numbers.

To further illustrate the example, the number 4,294,967,295 would beconverted to its hexadecimal binary form111101111011110111101111011110111101111. The complete code, includingthe header, would be 0011111010111101111011110111101111011110111101111.

The current world-wide demand for acetate tow for cigarette filtrationis approximately 700,000,000 kg per year. Assuming an average baleweight of 500 kg, the total number of bales produced in one year isapproximately 1.4M. The implementation of a printed coding system ofthis example could therefore encode supply chain information at the balelevel for over 3000 years' worth of production. In some aspects, fewerdigits are used in each code and typical cigarette filters contain morethan one repeat pattern of taggant surface markings.

Additional disclosed embodiments include an acetate tow band comprisingfibers. The fibers comprise one or more identification fibers andstandard fibers and the standard fibers comprise cellulose acetate. Eachof the identification fibers exhibits at least one distinct feature. Theidentification fibers comprise one or more branded fibers. The brandedfibers exhibit the distinct features comprising one or more taggantsurface markings. The taggant surface markings form a repeated patternalong a length of the branded fibers. The taggant surface markings andthe repeated pattern are representative of at least one supply chaincomponent of the acetate tow band.

Embodiments of an acetate tow band encompass acetate tow bandscomprising fibers with any combination of attributes disclosed above.Specifically, the identification fiber composition, the sizes andnumbers of fibers, the branded fibers, the surface markings, therepeated patterns, the length of the repeated patterns, the supply chaininformation, and the non-limiting coding/correlation systems apply tothe acetate tow band.

In one aspect, the at least one supply chain component comprises amanufacturer of the acetate tow band, a manufacturing site of theacetate tow band, a manufacturing line of the acetate tow band, aproduction run of the acetate tow band, a production date of the acetatetow band, a bale of the acetate tow band, a warehouse of the acetate towband, a customer of the acetate tow band, or a ship-to location of theacetate tow band. In one aspect, the at least one supply chain componentcomprises the manufacturer of the acetate tow band and the customer ofthe acetate tow band. In another aspect, the least one supply chaincomponent comprises the manufacturer of the acetate tow band and thecustomer of the acetate tow band. In one aspect, the at least one supplychain component comprises the bale of the acetate tow band.

Further embodiments encompass methods of making an acetate tow bandcomprising fibers. The fibers comprise standard fibers andidentification fibers and the standard fibers comprise celluloseacetate. The method comprises: (a) obtaining the identification fibers;(b) producing the standard fibers on a first fiber production process;and (c) combining the identification fibers and the standard fibers intothe acetate tow band. Each of the identification fibers exhibits atleast one distinct feature. The identification fibers comprise one ormore branded fibers. The branded fibers exhibit the distinct featurescomprising one or more taggant surface markings. The taggant surfacemarkings form a repeated pattern along a length of the branded fibers.The taggant surface markings and the repeated pattern are representativeof at least one supply chain component of the acetate tow band.

Embodiments of a method of making an acetate tow band encompass acetatetow bands comprising fibers with any combination of attributes disclosedabove. Specifically, the identification fiber composition, the sizes andnumbers of fibers, the branded fibers, the surface markings, therepeated patterns, the length of the repeated patterns, the supply chaininformation, and the non-limiting coding/correlation systems apply tothe method of making the acetate tow band. The supply chain attributesof embodiments of the acetate tow band described above also applied tothe method of making the acetate tow band.

One skilled in the art recognizes that the embodiments of method ofmaking an acetate tow band, apply generally to making a fiber band oryarn. The identification fibers can be combined with standard fibersinto a yarn or fiber band. The method for making a yarn or fiber bandencompasses making fibers, a fiber band, or yarn comprising the fiberswith any combination of attributes disclosed above.

In one aspect, at least a portion of the standard fibers are produced ona fiber production process. In another aspect, standard fibers arereceived from a third party. Obtaining the identification fiberscomprises at least one of (i) producing at least a portion of theidentification fibers on the standard fibers' fiber production process,(ii) producing at least a portion of the identification fibers on aprocess distinct from the standard fibers' fiber production process, or(iii) receiving at least a portion of the identification fibers from athird party.

In one aspect, a portion of the identification fibers are coproducedwith the standard fibers and a portion of the fibers making up a fiberband or yarn are spun and combined directly downstream of the fiberproduction process.

When and where the identification fibers are surface marked is notparticularly limiting. If the identification and standard fibers aremade concurrently on the same spinning equipment, the surface markingscan be applied anywhere between the start of the spinning process whenthe fiber is first physically formed and prior to the packaging of thefibers. In some aspects, the marking can be performed prior to theidentification fibers and standard fibers being combined or, at least,prior to subsequent processing of the combined fibers, such as prior tocrimping. In some aspects, the branded fibers are produced separatelyfrom the standard fibers on a separate spinning process, the surfacemarkings can be applied at any time prior to their combining with thestandard fibers, including by a third party, or concurrent with theircombining with the standard fibers. In some aspects, the marking cantake place just prior to the combining or at any point before thepackaging of the fibers.

Non-limiting examples of methods of surface marking the identificationfibers include printing, engraving, morphological modification, andchemically producing a pattern of optical properties. In some aspects,the printing of the surface markings could be performed using acommercial high-speed printer, such as an ink-jet printer, or a customprinter designed for purpose. The printing can be performed with asingle ink of one color or with multiple ink colors. In some aspects,engraving could be performed by contact equipment, such as equipmentthat uses abrasive surfaces, blades, or embossing rollers, or bynoncontact equipment, such as lasers or other high energy radiationsources. In some aspects a morphology modification can be performed bycontact equipment, such as equipment that uses abrasive surfaces, or bynoncontact equipment such as lasers or other high energy radiationsources. One non-limiting example of such a morphology change is the useof an energy source to induce intermittent fast drying of the fiberduring its formation resulting in variations in optical properties ofthe fiber, such as opacity, or variations in surface roughness.

In some aspects branded fibers are produced on a second fiber productionprocess followed by applying the taggant surface markings in therepeated pattern. In some aspects, fibers are received from a thirdparty. The taggant surface markings in the repeated pattern can beapplied to the fibers to produce branded fibers any time before thebranded fibers are combined with the standard fibers into an acetate towband. The manner in which the taggant surface markings in the repeatedpattern is applied to the branded fibers is not particularly limited. Insome aspects the taggant surface markings in the repeated pattern areprinted on the branded fibers concurrently to producing the standardfibers. In some aspects the taggant surface markings in the repeatedpattern are laser engraved on the branded fibers concurrently toproducing the standard fibers. In some aspects the concurrently producedbranded fibers and the standard fibers are combined prior to crimpingthe acetate tow band.

Whether the identification fibers and standard fibers are made on thesame or different equipment, the marking of the identification fibersconcurrent with the production of (or the combining with) the standardfibers the can be advantageous as it reduces complexity of managing andinventorying of pre-marked fibers and routing those branded fibers todesignated production lines at the right time to ensure proper coding ofthe fiber product. In contrast, concurrent marking of the identificationfibers can be readily controlled by standard computer systems (e.g., aPLC or a DCS), with the coding changed automatically and essentiallyinstantaneously to code the desired supply chain information for thefiber being produced.

In another aspect, the identification fibers are produced and packagedseparately from the standard fibers and the identification fibers arecombined with the standard fibers to produce a fiber band or yarn. Thestandard fibers may also have been packaged before combining with theidentification fibers, or the identification fibers may be combined withthe standard fibers before packaging of the fiber band or yarn.

The spinning process used for producing the fibers is not particularlylimited. In one aspect, the fibers are produced using dry spinning,solution spinning, melt spinning, electro spinning, gel spinning,multicomponent spinning, melt blowing, and/or solution blowing. Inanother aspect, the fibers are produced using dry spinning, solutionspinning, melt spinning, electro spinning, gel spinning, and/ormulticomponent spinning. In a further aspect, the standard fiberscomprise cellulose acetate and are produced using dry spinning.

In some aspects the taggant surface markings in the repeated pattern areapplied by process comprising engraving, printing, or morphologicalmodification. In some aspects, the taggant surface markings in therepeated pattern are applied by process comprising printing the taggantsurface markings in the repeated pattern on the branded fibersconcurrently to producing the standard fibers and combining the brandedfibers and the standard fibers before crimping the acetate tow band. Inyet additional aspects, the taggant surface markings in the repeatedpattern are applied by process comprising laser engraving the taggantsurface markings in the repeated pattern on the branded fibersconcurrently to producing the standard fibers and combining the brandedfibers and the standard fibers before crimping the acetate tow band.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic process flow diagram of a non-limitingembodiment of branding fibers while coproducing acetate tow fibers andcombining them into an acetate tow band. Acetate tow band 112 isproduced in manufacturing environment 100. Cellulose acetate spinningsolution 102 is fed to fiber spinning process 120 where it is fed toseveral spinning cabinets, each with several spinnerets (not shown). Thefibers 108 exiting each spinning cabinet, often called ends, aregathered together to form a band which is fed into a crimper 130.Identification fiber 104 passes under marking device 110 which impartssurface markings in a repeated pattern to produce branded fiber 106.Non-limiting examples of marking device 110 include a printer and alaser. Branded fiber 106 and cellulose acetate fibers 108 are gatheredtogether and fed to crimper 130 to produced crimped acetate tow band112.

Yet additional embodiments encompass methods of characterizing a fibersample. The fiber sample comprises fibers and the fibers comprisestandard fibers and identification fibers. Each of the identificationfibers exhibits at least one distinct feature. The identification fiberscomprise one or more branded fibers. The branded fibers exhibit thedistinct features comprising one or more taggant surface markings. Thetaggant surface markings form a repeated pattern along a length of thebranded fibers. The method comprises applying imaging technology to thebranded fibers and determining the repeated pattern of the taggantsurface markings. The taggant surface markings and the repeated patternare representative of at least one supply chain component of the fibersample.

Yet additional embodiments encompass methods of characterizing a fibersample. The fiber sample comprises fibers and the fibers comprisestandard fibers and identification fibers. Each of the identificationfibers exhibits at least one distinct feature. The identification fiberscomprise one or more branded fibers. The branded fibers exhibit thedistinct features comprising one or more taggant surface markings. Thetaggant surface markings form a repeated pattern along a length of thebranded fibers. The method comprises (1) optionally separating thebranded fibers from the fiber sample; (2) applying imaging technology tothe branded fibers; (3) determining the repeated pattern of the taggantsurface markings. The taggant surface markings and the repeated patternare representative of at least one supply chain component of the fibersample.

Embodiments of methods of characterizing a fiber sample encompasscharacterizing a fiber sample comprising fibers with any combination ofattributes disclosed above. Specifically, the identification fibercomposition, the sizes and numbers of fibers, the branded fibers, thesurface markings, the repeated patterns, the length of the repeatedpatterns, the supply chain information, and the non-limitingcoding/correlation systems apply to the method of characterizing a fibersample.

The process of separating the branded fibers from the standard fibers ofan article for the purpose of characterizing the branded fibers candepend on the nature of the article, the orientation, entanglement, andbonding of the fibers within the article, and the differences in thechemical composition of standard and branded fibers. In the case of atypical cigarette filter or similarly solvent-bonded fiber matts, insome aspects, the branded fibers are not susceptible to the solventbonding agent used in the manufacture of the article, the branded fiberscan be located (with or without magnification) and removed by hand orsome other means to physically segregate the branded fibers from therest of the fiber sample. In some aspects, the branded fibers have asolubility profile different from the standard fibers and the standardfibers can be dissolved away from the branded fibers with the use of theright combination of solvents and/or conditions. In some aspects,cigarette filters comprise cellulose acetate and the branded fiberscomprise a polymer that is not soluble in acetone such that acetone canbe used to dissolve away the standard fibers and segregate the brandedfibers. In some aspects, separating the branded fibers from the fibersample comprises placing the fiber sample in a solvent to produce asolution comprising a dissolved portion of the fiber sample and thebranded fibers and removing the branded fibers from the solution.

In one aspect the standard fibers comprise cellulose acetate and thefiber sample comprises a portion of an article comprising the fibers. Insome aspects the article can be selected from the group consisting of afilter rod and a cigarette filter. In other aspects, the fiber samplecomprises a portion of an article comprising the fibers, wherein thearticle is selected from the group consisting of fabrics and othertextile products, non-wovens, and absorbent products.

In one aspect, the imaging technology comprises the use ofelectromagnetic radiation at visible wavelengths. In another aspect, theimage technology comprises the use of electromagnetic radiation atinvisible wavelengths. The equipment useful for imaging technology isnot particularly limited. Non-limiting examples include human visualinspection, microscopy, electron microscopy, confocal microscopy, andoptical scanning.

The imaging technology can be applied to the fiber sample parallel tothe length of the fibers. This direction allows, for example, a view ofa pattern of surface markings on the fibers.

The imaging technology may also be applied to the article comprising thefibers, fiber band, or yarn.

In one aspect, the method for characterizing the fiber sample furthercomprises (a) correlating the taggant surface markings and/or therepeated pattern of the taggant surface markings to a databasecomprising manufacturer-specific taggants; and (b) determining at leastone supply chain component of the fiber sample. The supply chaincomponent comprises a manufacturer of the standard fibers, a manufacturesite of the standard fibers, a manufacturing line of the standardfibers, a production run of the standard fibers, a production date ofthe standard fibers, a package of the standard fibers, a warehouse ofthe standard fibers, a customer of the standard fibers, a ship-tolocation of the standard fibers, a manufacturer of a yarn or fiber bandcomprising the fibers, a manufacturing site of the yarn or fiber band, amanufacturing line of the yarn or fiber band, a production run of theyarn or fiber band, a production date of the yarn or fiber band, apackage of the yarn or fiber band, a warehouse of the yarn or fiberband, a customer of the yarn or fiber band, a ship-to location of theyarn or fiber band, a manufacturer of an article comprising the fibers,a manufacture site of the article, a manufacturing line of the article,a production run of the article, a production date of the article, apackage of the article, a warehouse of the article, a customer of thearticle, or a ship-to location of the article. In one aspect thecorrelating is among the distinct features and/or the combinations ofdistinct features. In another aspect, the correlating is among thedistinct features, the combinations of distinct features, and/or thetotal number of each of the distinguishable identification fibers. Inanother aspect, the correlating is among the distinct features, thecombinations of distinct features, the total number of each of thedistinguishable identification fibers, and/or the taggant totalidentification fiber number. In one aspect, at least one supply chaincomponent comprises a manufacturer of a yarn comprising the fibers, amanufacturing site of the yarn, a manufacturing line of the yarn, aproduction run of the yarn, a production date of the yarn, a package ofthe yarn, a warehouse of the yarn, a customer of the yarn, a ship-tolocation of the yarn.

In one aspect, the supply chain information comprises the manufacturerof the yarn or fiber band. In one aspect, the supply chain informationcomprises the manufacture site of the yarn or fiber band. In one aspectthe supply chain information comprises the manufacturing line of theyarn or fiber band. The manufacturing line of the yarn or fiber band isthe manufacturing line on which the yarn or fiber band was produced. Inone aspect, the supply chain information comprises the production run ofthe yarn or fiber band. The production run of the yarn or fiber band isthe production run within which the yarn or fiber band was produced. Inone aspect, the supply chain information comprises the production dateof the yarn or fiber band. The production date of the yarn or fiber bandis the production date on which the yarn or fiber band was produced. Inone aspect, the supply chain information comprises the bale of the yarnor fiber band. In one aspect, the supply chain information comprises thecustomer of the yarn or fiber band. The customer of the yarn or fiberband is the customer to whom the manufacturer plans to send or has sentthe yarn or fiber band. In one aspect, the supply chain informationcomprises the ship-to location of the yarn or fiber band. The ship-tolocation of the yarn or fiber band is the specific geographic locationto which the manufacturer plans to send or has sent the yarn or fiberband.

In one aspect, the fiber sample comprises a portion of a filter,comprising an acetate tow band, wherein the method further comprisescorrelating the repeated pattern of taggant surface markings to adatabase comprising manufacturing specific taggants, and wherein the atleast one supply chain component comprises a bale of the acetate towband.

The disclosed embodiments also include making an article with fibers, afiber band, and/or yarn having any of the disclosed features. Thedisclosed embodiments also include characterizing an article comprisinga fibers, fiber band, or yarn having any of the disclosed features.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate non-limiting examples of an environment 500depicting communication and shipping channels among entities consistentwith disclosed embodiments. In one embodiment, environment 500 of FIGS.5A and 5B may include one or more manufacturers 510, one or morecustomers 520, a black market 540 or other illicit trade network, one ormore requesting parties 530, one or more laboratories 560, andcommunication network 550. The components and arrangement of thecomponents included in environment 500 (e.g., as illustrated in FIGS. 5Aand 5B) may vary. Thus, environment 500 may include other componentsthat perform or assist in the performance of one or more processesconsistent with the disclosed embodiments.

In some aspects, network 550 may be any type of network configured toprovide communication means between systems of components of environment500 (e.g., manufacturing system 512 and/or laboratory system 562). Forexample, network 550 may be any type of network (includinginfrastructure) that facilitates communications, exchanges information,etc., such as the Internet, a Local Area Network, near fieldcommunication, and/or other suitable connection(s) that enables thesending and receiving of information between the components systemsassociated with environment 500. In other embodiments, one or morecomponent systems of environment 500 may communicate directly through adedicated communication link(s), such as links between manufacturer 510,customer 520, requesting party 530, and/or laboratory 560.

Further, and as stated above, manufacturers (e.g., manufacturer 510) mayproduce cellulose acetate fibers and fiber products that incorporate thecellulose acetate fibers on an industrial scale. In some embodiments,the produced cellulose acetate fibers and fiber products may includestandard fibers and identification fibers. Each of the identificationfibers exhibits one or more distinct features (e.g., distinctcross-section sizes, distinct cross-section shapes, distinct opticalproperties, and additionally or alternatively, distinct surfacemarkings.) that visually distinguish the identification fibers from thestandard fibers. In some aspect, one or more of the distinct surfacemarkings may represent a taggant surface markings, and theidentification fibers may include one or more branded fibers thatexhibit one or more of the taggant surface markings. The taggant surfacemarkings exhibited by the branded fibers may, in certain aspects, form arepeated pattern disposed along the length of the branded fibers. Therepeated pattern may, for example, be representative of at least onesupply chain component associated with the standard fibers, theidentification fibers, and/or fibers and fiber products that include thestandard and/or identification fibers.

In other aspects, the repeated pattern may be representative of a codeassociated with the identification fibers and/or the standard fibers(e.g., an alphanumeric code, a digital code, an analog code, and/or anideographic code, as described above). In some embodiments, portion ofthe code may be representative of at least one supply chain componentassociated with the standard fibers, the identification fibers, and/orfibers and fiber products that include the standard and/oridentification fibers.

In some embodiments, the inclusion of identification fibers in thecellulose acetate fibers may enable manufacturer 510 to tag thecellulose acetate fibers, and thus, the fiber products that include thecellulose acetate fibers, with supply chain information prior toshipment to customers 520. By way of example, fiber products consistentwith the disclosed embodiments may include, but are not limited to,cellulose acetate tow, loose bands of cellulose acetate tow, bales ofcellulose acetate tow, and fabrics and other articles that include thecellulose acetate fibers and/or tow.

For example, and in the context of cigarette manufacturing, customer 520may use a bale of acetate tow to produce various intermediate and/orfinal stage products (e.g., loose tow band, filter rods, filters, and/orcigarettes) and a fraction of these products can ultimately find theirway onto the black market (e.g., black market 440). Thus, because supplychain information can be determined from a sample of any black marketproduct having tagged identification fibers, a party interested incombating illicit trade (e.g., requesting party 530) may obtain a blackmarket product and submit a sample for analysis in order to identifysupply chain information associated with the black market product.

Thus, in one embodiment, requesting party 530 may provide the sample tomanufacturer 510, as depicted in FIG. 5A. Manufacturer 510 may, incertain aspects, analyze the sample using any of the exemplarytechniques outlined above to identify at least one component of a supplychain associated with the sample. For example, the sample may includestandard and identification fibers, which may include branded fibersexhibiting one or more taggant surface markings that form a repeatedpattern along a length of the branded fibers. Based on the analysis,manufacturer 510 may identify, within the identification fibers, the oneor more branded fibers that exhibit the one or more taggant surfacemarkings. Manufacturer 510 may also identify the repeated pattern formedby the taggant surface markings along the length of the branded fibers(e.g., through an application of an imaging technology to the brandedfibers, as described above).

In certain aspects, manufacturer 510 may access correlation data mappingcomponents of the supply chain to the exhibited taggant surface markingsand additionally or alternatively, to the identified repeated patternformed by the taggant surface markings along the length of the brandedfibers. Manufacturer 510 may identify the at least one component of thesupply chain based on, for example, a comparison of the exhibitedtaggant surface markings and/or the identified repeated pattern to theaccessed correlation data. In some instances, manufacturer 510 maytransmit information identifying the at least one supply chain componentto requesting party 530 (e.g., across network 550).

In the exemplary embodiments described above, manufacturer 510 mayanalyze the sample to identify at least one component of a supply chainassociated with the sample. The disclosed embodiments are, however, notlimited to exemplary analyses conducted by manufacturer 510, and infurther embodiments, customer 520, requesting party 530, or athird-party (not shown) may conduct the analysis for identifying supplychain information from tagged fibers.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 5B, a laboratory 560 may act onbehalf of requesting party 530 and perform the analysis on the sample toidentify the at least one supply chain component associated with thesample. In some instances, laboratory 560 may represent a governmentalentity, a quasi-governmental entity, or a private entity capable ofperforming the analysis, and requesting party 530 may contract with orretain laboratory 560 to perform the analysis on a one-time or recurringbasis.

In other instances, however, laboratory 560 may be established by one ofmore of manufacturer 510, customers 520, and/or requesting party 530 inorder to regularly and reliably identify supply chain componentsassociated with samples taken from illicitly traded cellulose acetatefibers or fiber products that incorporate the cellulose acetate fibers(e.g., as obtained by requesting party 530 from black market 540).Laboratory 560 may, in certain aspects, perform the analysis of thesample in accordance with one or more procedures established by amanufacturer 510, customers 520, and/or requesting party 530. Forexample, one or more of manufacturer 510, customers 520, and/orrequesting party 530 may collectively establish standardized proceduresand protocols for receiving and handling samples, analyzing the samplesto identify the supply chain components in an accurate and repeatablemanner, and reporting portions of the identified supply chain componentsto manufacturer 510, customers 520, and/or requesting party 530.Further, in additional embodiments, laboratory 560 may also assign thetaggant surface markings, repeated patterns formed by taggant surfacemarkings, and/or portions of the codes represented by the repeatedpatterns to various components of the supply chain (e.g., manufacturers)to uniquely identify these supply chain components. In furtherembodiments, customer 520, requesting party 530, or a third-party (notshown) may assign the taggant surface markings, repeated patterns formedby taggant surface markings, and/or portions of the codes represented bythe repeated patterns to various components of the supply chain (e.g.,manufacturers) to uniquely identify these supply chain components.

In one embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 5B, requesting party 530 mayprovide the sample to laboratory 560. Laboratory 560 may, in certainaspects, analyze the sample to identify at least one component of asupply chain associated with the sample (e.g., a manufacturer). Forexample, using any of exemplary techniques described above, laboratory560 may analyze the sample to identify the identification fibers thatexhibit one of more distinct features, including, for example, one ormore branding fibers that exhibit one or more taggant surface markings.Laboratory 560 may further identify one or more repeated patterns formedby the taggant surface markings along the length of the branded fibers.Further, laboratory 560 may access correlation data, and using any ofthe exemplary techniques described above, identify the at least onesupply chain component based on a comparison of the exhibited taggantsurface markings and the identified repeated patterns to the accessedcorrelation data.

In additional embodiments, laboratory 560 may function as a centralizedfacility that assigns unique taggant surface markings, unique repeatedpatterns, and unique codes (or portions of codes) represented by therepeated patterns to various components of the supply chain (e.g., tomanufacturer 510). For example, laboratory 560 may assign, tomanufacturer 510, a taggant surface marking, a repeated pattern formedby the assigned taggant surface marking, and/or a portion of a coderepresented by the assigned repeated pattern.

When exhibited by branded fibers included within cellulose acetatefibers and corresponding fiber products produced by manufacturer 510,the assigned taggant surface marking, assigned repeated pattern, and/orassigned code portion may uniquely represent manufacturer 510 and mayenable laboratory 560 (and additionally or alternatively, any otherentity within environment 500) to identify manufacturer 510 as a sourceof the fibers or fiber products using any of the analytical techniquesdescribed above. Further, laboratory 560 (and additionally oralternatively, any other entity within environment 500) may alsoestablish and maintain data records (e.g., within a centralized databaseimplemented using the exemplary computing systems outlined below) thatidentify a correlation between the various supply chain components(e.g., manufacturer 510) and corresponding ones of the assigned taggantsurface markings, repeated patterns, and/or code and code portions.

The disclosed embodiments are, however, not limited to the assignment ofexemplary taggant surface markings, exemplary repeated patterns, and/orexemplary code and code portions to manufacturer 510. In furtherembodiments, laboratory 560 may assign any additional or alternatetaggant information, and further, any additional or alternate set orcombinations of sets of taggant surface markings, repeated patterns,and/or code and code portions to uniquely identify manufacturer 510.

In certain aspects, laboratory 560 may establish a centralizedrepository for data and data records (e.g., using any of the exemplarycomputing systems outlined below) that correlate the various supplychain components (e.g., manufacturer 510) to corresponding ones oftaggant surface markings, repeated patterns formed by taggant surfacemarkings, and/or codes and code portions represented by the repeatedpatterns. Further, in other aspects, laboratory 560 may access thecentralized repository and generate one or more reports specifying thetaggant surface markings, repeated patterns formed by the taggantsurface markings, and/or codes represented by the repeated patterns thatuniquely identify at least one of the supply chain components (e.g.,manufacturers). Laboratory 560 may, in some instances, generate thereports at predetermined intervals or in response to received requests(e.g., from requesting party 530, manufacturer 510, etc.), and mayprovide the generated reports to various parties and entities withinenvironment 500 (e.g., across network 550).

In some embodiments, laboratory 560 may access the centralizedrepository to identify at least one supply chain component (e.g.,manufacturer 510) associated with taggant surface markings and/or arepeated patterns formed by the taggant surface markings determined bylaboratory 560 (e.g., using any of the analytical techniques outlinedabove) and additionally or alternatively, obtained from any third partyor other entity within environment 500. Further, and as described below,the centralized repository may enable laboratory 560 to determinewhether proposed taggant surface markings, proposed repeated patternscapable of being formed by the taggant surface markings, and/or proposedcodes representable by the repeated patterns (e.g., as selected bymanufacturer 510) are capable of uniquely representing fibers and fiberproducts of manufacturer 510 that are introduced into the supply chain.

In certain embodiments, laboratory 560 may receive one or more proposedtaggant surface markings, a proposed repeated pattern, and/or a proposedcode (or code portion) representable by the proposed repeated patternfrom manufacturer 510. Laboratory 560 may, for example, compare theproposed taggant surface markings, proposed repeated pattern, and/orproposed code (or code portion) against the established data records(e.g., within the centralized repository) to determine whether these theproposed taggant surface markings, proposed repeated pattern, and/orproposed code (or code portion) are capable of uniquely identifyingmanufacturer 510 (e.g., the proposed taggant surface markings, proposedrepeated pattern, and/or proposed code (or code portion) are assigned tono other supply chain components, such as another manufacturer). If theproposed taggant surface markings, proposed repeated pattern, and/orproposed code (or code portion) could uniquely represent manufacturer510, laboratory 560 may assign the proposed taggant surface markings,proposed repeated pattern, and/or proposed code (or code portion) tomanufacturer 510, update the data records to reflect the assignment, andprovide confirmation of the assignment to manufacturer 510 (e.g.,between computing systems of laboratory 560 and manufacturer 510 acrossnetwork 550).

Alternatively, if laboratory 560 previously assigned the proposedtaggant surface markings, proposed repeated pattern, and/or proposedcode (or code portion) to another manufacturer (or the proposed taggantsurface markings, proposed repeated pattern, and/or proposed code (orcode portion) are inappropriate to represent manufacturer 510),laboratory 560 may assign one or more alternate taggant surfacemarkings, an alternate repeated pattern, and/or an alternate code (orcode portion) representable by the alternate repeated pattern tomanufacturer 510, update the data records to reflect the alternateassignment, and provide confirmation of the alternate assignment tomanufacturer 510. In other aspects, laboratory 560 could provide, tomanufacturer 510, an indication of the assignment of the proposedtaggant surface markings, proposed repeated pattern, and/or proposedcode (or code portion) to another manufacturer, and request thatmanufacturer 510 propose one or more additional taggant surfacemarkings, an additional repeated pattern, and/or an additional code (orcode portion) representable by the additional repeated pattern forassignment by laboratory 560, as described above.

In certain aspects, upon confirmation of the assignment, manufacturer510 may obtain and/or produce branded fibers exhibiting the assignedtaggant surface markings, which form the assigned repeated pattern, andwhich represent the assigned code and/or code portion. In other aspects,however, manufacturer 510 may further correlate the assigned taggantsurface markings, the assigned repeated patterns, and/or the assignedcode (or code portion) represented by the assigned repeated patterns toone or more upstream components of the supply chain (e.g., a manufacturesite, a manufacturing line, a production run, a production date, a bale)and/or various downstream components of the supply chain (e.g., awarehouse, a customer, a ship-to location, etc.). For example,manufacturer 510 may further specify that additional code or codeportions associated with the assigned repeated pattern (i.e., codeportions distinct from those representing manufacturer 510) uniquelyrepresent a particular customer within the supply chain (e.g., customer520) or a particular bale produced and shipped by manufacturer 510.

The disclosed embodiments are, however, not limited to techniques thatenable manufacturer 510 to correlate customer 520 and/or a particularbale to the assigned taggant surface markings, the assigned repeatedpatterns, and/or the assigned code (or code portion) represented by theassigned repeated patterns. In further embodiments, manufacturer 510 mayspecify any additional or alternate taggant information (e.g., distinctfeatures, combinations of distinct features, etc.) to represent otherupstream or downstream supply components (or combinations thereof) inconjunction with the assigned taggant surface markings, the assignedrepeated patterns, and/or the assigned code (or code portion)represented by the assigned repeated patterns.

In some aspects, while laboratory 560, or another entity, may maintaininformation linking manufacturer 510 to assigned taggant surfacemarkings, the assigned repeated patterns, and/or the assigned code (orcode portion) represented by the assigned repeated patterns,manufacturer 510 may hold confidential additional taggant information(e.g., distinct features, combinations of distinct features,non-assigned code portions, etc.) that links identification fibers, andthus fiber products produced by manufacturer 510, to other upstream anddownstream components of the supply chain. The confidentiality of theadditional taggant information may, in certain instances, enablemanufacturer 510 to prevent laboratory 560 from identifying customers(e.g., customer 520), ship-to locations, warehouses, and other internalsupply chain components (e.g., manufacture site or line, and productionrun or date) associated with manufacturer 510.

The embodiments described above identify particular combinations oftaggant information that correlate to a specific component of a supplychain and, when exhibited in identification fibers of a sample, enable alaboratory, a manufacturer, or other entities to identify the specificsupply chain component associated with the sample. One of ordinary skillin the art would, however, understand that the disclosed embodiments arenot limited to the particular combinations or taggant informationoutlined above, and in further embodiments, specific supply chaincomponents may be correlated with any additional or alternate physical,chemical, and/or optical characteristic exhibited by the identificationfibers, which include, but are not limited to, distinct features, and/orcombinations of distinct features. Moreover, while not depicted in FIGS.5A and 5B, one of skill in the art would understand that entitiesassociated with environment 500 (shown and not shown) may employ one ormore warehouses to store raw materials, intermediate products, finalstage products, etc. in conducting operations consistent with disclosedembodiments.

Further, the disclosed embodiments are, however, not limited to theassignment of taggant surface markings, repeated patterns, and/or codesand code portions to various components of the supply chain (e.g.,manufacturers). In further embodiments, manufacturer 510, laboratory560, customers 520, requesting party 530, or a third-party (not shown)may assign other taggant information to the various components of thesupply chain, which include, but are not limited to, distinct features,and/or combinations of distinct features.

FIG. 6 illustrates a non-limiting example of a computing system 600 usedby one or more entities consistent with disclosed embodiments.Variations of exemplary system 600 may be used by manufacturer 510(e.g., as manufacturer system 512), customer 520, requesting party 530,and/or laboratory 560 (e.g., as laboratory system 562). In oneembodiment, system 600 may comprise one or more processors 621, one ormore input/output (I/O) devices 622, and one or more memories 623. Insome embodiments, system 600 may take the form of a server, mainframecomputer, or any combination of these components. In some embodiments,system 600 may take the form of a mobile computing device such as asmartphone, tablet, laptop computer, or any combination of thesecomponents. Alternatively, system 600 may be configured as a particularapparatus, embedded system, dedicated circuit, and the like based on thestorage, execution, and/or implementation of the software instructionsthat perform one or more operations consistent with the disclosedembodiments.

Processor 621 may include one or more known processing devices, such asmobile device microprocessors or any various other processors. Thedisclosed embodiments are not limited to any type of processor(s)configured in system 600.

Memory 623 may include one or more storage devices configured to storeinstructions used by processor 624 to perform functions related to thedisclosed embodiments. For example, memory 623 may be configured withone or more software instructions, such as program(s) 624 that mayperform one or more operations consistent with disclosed embodimentswhen executed by processor 621. The disclosed embodiments are notlimited to separate programs or computers configured to performdedicated tasks. For example, memory 623 may include a single program624 that performs the functions of system 600, or program 624 maycomprise multiple programs. Memory 623 may also store data 625 that isused by one or more programs 612, such as correlation data mappingdistinct features to one or more components of the supply chaininformation.

I/O devices 622 may be one or more devices configured to allow data tobe received and/or transmitted by system 600. I/O devices 622 mayinclude one or more digital and/or analog devices that allow componentsof environment 500 to communicate with other machines and devices, suchas other components of environment 500. For example, I/O devices 622 mayinclude a screen for displaying messages, distinct feature information,supply chain information, or providing other information to the user,such as an employee of manufacturer 510, customer 520, requesting party530, and/or laboratory 560. I/O devices 622 may also include one or moredigital and/or analog devices that allow a user to interact with system600 such as a touch-sensitive area, keyboard, buttons, or microphones.I/O devices 622 may also include other components known in the art forinteracting with a user.

The components of system 600 may be implemented in hardware, software,or a combination of both hardware and software, as will be apparent tothose skilled in the art. For example, although one or more componentsof system 600 may be implemented as computer processing instructions,all or a portion of the functionality of system 600 may be implementedinstead in dedicated electronics hardware.

System 600 may also be communicatively connected to one or moredatabase(s) 627. System 600 may be communicatively connected todatabase(s) 627 through network 550. Database 627 may include one ormore memory devices that store information and are accessed and/ormanaged through system 600. By way of example, database(s) 627 mayinclude Oracle™ databases, Sybase™ databases, or other relationaldatabases or non-relational databases, such as Hadoop sequence files,HBase, or Cassandra.

The databases or other files may include, for example, data andinformation related to distinct features, supply chain information,correlation data mapping the distinct features (e.g., taggant surfacemarking(s)), repeated pattern(s) formed by taggant surface markings,and/or code(s) associated with the repeated pattern(s) to the supplychain information, data indicative of distinct features (e.g., taggantsurface marking(s)), repeated pattern(s) formed by taggant surfacemarkings, and/or code(s) associated with the repeated pattern(s)assigned to the supply chain information, etc. For example, thedatabases and other files may include correlation data mapping thesupply chain components to distinct features (e.g., taggant surfacemarking(s)), repeated pattern(s) formed by taggant surface markings,and/or code(s) associated with the repeated pattern(s) included in fibersamples, as described above. Further, by way of example, the databasesand other files may also include distinct features (e.g., taggantsurface marking(s)), repeated pattern(s) formed by taggant surfacemarkings, and/or code(s) associated with the repeated pattern(s)included in fiber samples assigned to supply chain components bylaboratory 560, as outlined above.

Systems and methods of disclosed embodiments, however, are not limitedto separate databases. In one aspect, system 600 may include database627. Alternatively, database 627 may be located remotely from the system600. Database 627 may include computing components (e.g., databasemanagement system, database server, etc.) configured to receive andprocess requests for data stored in memory devices of database(s) 627and to provide data from database 627.

Although the above description has designated laboratory 560 as theentity assigning various taggants, in other aspects, manufacturer 510,customer 520, requesting party 530 or a third-party entity not shown maybe the one assigning taggants for identification fibers. Furthermore, asseen from FIGS. 5A and 5B, although the description has focused oncellulose acetate tow and the black market associated with cigarettefilters, the embodiments clearly apply to fibers of any material and anyarticle subject to illicit trade.

FIG. 7 illustrates a non-limiting example of a process for embeddingsupply chain information into fibers, as seen and described above withrespect to disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates a non-limiting example of a process for generatingcorrelation data, as seen and described above with respect to disclosedembodiments. For example, as described in FIG. 8, manufacturer 510 (andadditionally or alternatively, laboratory 560) may generate a firststructured list of the supply chain components having one or morecorresponding attributes, and may generate a second structured list oftaggant surface markings available for application to or inclusionwithin identification fibers. In one instance, the supply chaincomponents may represent one or more corresponding attributes.Manufacturer 510 may identify repeated patterns capable of being formedby the taggant surface markings along lengths of identification fibers(i.e., branded fibers). In some aspects, manufacturer 510 may mapelements of the first structured list to elements of the secondstructured list, and may map the supply chain components of the firststructured list to the identified repeated patterns. Manufacturer 510may, in additional aspects, store correlation data (e.g., in database627) reflecting the mapping of the elements of the first and secondstructured lists.

FIG. 9 illustrates an additional non-limiting example of a process forgenerating correlation data, as seen and described above with respect todisclosed embodiments. For example, as described in FIG. 9, laboratory560 (and additionally or alternatively, manufacturer 510) may generate afirst structured list of components of the supply chain. In oneinstance, the supply chain components may represent one or morecorresponding attributes. Laboratory 560 may also identify one or moretaggant surface markings appropriate for application to or inclusionwithin identification fibers (i.e., branded fibers), and may generate asecond structured list that includes potential repeated patterns capableof being formed by the identified taggant surface markings. In someaspects, laboratory 560 may generate a third structured list identifyingpotential codes or code portions that are assignable to the potentialrepeated patterns of the second structured list and capable ofrepresenting the supply chain components of the first structured list.Laboratory 560 may further map elements of the first structured list toelements of the second structured list, and further map elements of thefirst structured list to elements of the third structured list. In someaspects, laboratory 560 may store correlation data (e.g., in database627) reflecting the mappings of the attributes of the supply chaincomponents to the potential repeated patterns and potential code andcode portions.

FIG. 10 illustrates a non-limiting example of a process for producingidentification fibers, as seen and described above with respect todisclosed embodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates a non-limiting example of a process for identifyingat least one supply chain component associated with a fiber sample, asseen and described above with respect to disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 12 illustrates a non-limiting example of a process for assigning,to supply chain components, taggant surface markings, repeated patterns,and code and code portions that uniquely represent the supply chaincomponents, as seen and described above with respect to disclosedembodiments.

Listed below are non-limiting embodiments A1-A24.

A1. Fibers comprising one or more identification fibers, wherein each ofthe identification fibers exhibits at least one distinct feature,wherein the identification fibers comprise one or more branded fibers,wherein the branded fibers exhibit the distinct features comprising oneor more taggant surface markings, wherein the taggant surface markingsform a repeated pattern along a length of the branded fibers, andwherein the taggant surface markings and/or repeated pattern isrepresentative of a code of the fibers.

A2. The fibers of embodiment A1, further comprising standard fibers andwherein the code is representative of at least one supply chaincomponent of the fibers or the standard fibers.

A3. The fibers of any of embodiments A1 or A2, wherein the repeatedpattern comprises an alphanumeric code, a digital code, an analog code,or an ideographic code.

A4. The fibers of embodiment A1, wherein the repeated pattern includesmetadata.

A5. The fibers of embodiment A4, wherein the metadata comprises aread-start position, a read-end position, a read direction, spacing ofthe digits within the code.

A6. The fibers of any of embodiments A3-A5, wherein the repeated patterncomprises a digital code and wherein the digital code comprises a binarycode.

A7. The fibers of embodiment A6, wherein a number of digits in thebinary code ranges from 2 to 500, 4 to 100 10 to 100, 20 to 100, 4 to50, 10 to 50, or 20 to 50.

A8. The fibers of any of embodiments A1-A7, wherein the length of therepeated pattern ranges from 2 mm to 500 mm, 2 to 200 mm, 2 to 30 mm, 5mm to 200 mm, 5 mm to 30 mm, 10 to 200 mm, or 10 to 30 mm.

A9. The fibers of any of embodiments A1-A8, wherein the repeated patternis essentially one-dimensional.

A10. The fibers of any of embodiments A1-A9, wherein the repeatedpattern is printed on the branded fibers.

A11. The fibers of any of embodiments A1-A9, wherein the repeatedpattern is imparted on the branded fibers by engraving or morphologymodification.

A12. The fibers of any of embodiments A2-A11, wherein the standardfibers comprise cellulose acetate.

A13. The fibers of any of embodiments A2-A12, wherein the branded fibersare essentially insoluble in a solvent, wherein the standard fibers aresoluble in the solvent.

A14. The fibers of any of embodiments A12 or A13, wherein the brandedfibers are essentially insoluble in acetone or methylene chloride.

A15. The fibers of any of embodiments A12-A14, wherein the brandedfibers are essentially not susceptible to solvent bonding withtriacetin.

A16. The fibers of any of embodiments A1-A15, where in the brandedfibers comprise acrylic, modacrylic, aramid, nylon, polyester,polypropylene, rayon, polyacrylonitrile, polyethylene, cellulosetriacetate, or PTFE.

A17. The fibers of any of embodiments A2-A16, wherein the at least onesupply chain component comprises a manufacturer of the standard fibers,a manufacture site of the standard fibers, a manufacturing line of thestandard fibers, a production run of the standard fibers, a productiondate of the standard fibers, a package of the standard fibers, awarehouse of the standard fibers, a customer of the standard fibers, aship-to location of the standard fibers, a manufacturer of a fiber bandcomprising the fibers, a manufacturing site of the fiber band, amanufacturing line of the fiber band, a production run of the fiberband, a production date of the fiber band, a package of the fiber band,a warehouse of the fiber band, a customer of the fiber band, a ship-tolocation of the fiber band, a manufacturer of an article comprising thefibers, a manufacture site of the article, a manufacturing line of thearticle, a production run of the article, a production date of thearticle, a package of the article, a warehouse of the article, acustomer of the article, or a ship-to location of the article.

A18. An acetate tow band comprising fibers, comprising the fibers of anyof embodiments of any of A2-A17, wherein the standard fibers comprisecellulose acetate.

A19. The acetate tow band of embodiment A18, wherein the at least onesupply chain component comprises a manufacturer of a acetate tow band, amanufacturing site of the acetate tow band, a manufacturing line of theacetate tow band, a production run of the acetate tow band, a productiondate of the acetate tow band, a bale of the acetate tow band, awarehouse of the acetate tow band, a customer of the fiber band, or aship-to location of the acetate tow band.

A20. The acetate tow band of any of embodiments A18 or A19, wherein theat least one supply chain component comprises the bale of the acetatetow band.

A21. A method of making an acetate tow band comprising fibers of any ofembodiments A2-A17, wherein the method comprises: (a) obtaining theidentification fibers (b) producing the standard fibers on a first fiberproduction process; and (c) combining the identification fibers and thestandard fibers into the acetate tow band.

A22. The method of embodiment A21, wherein the obtaining of theidentification fibers comprising the branded fibers comprises at leastone of (i) the producing the portion of the identification fibers on thesecond fiber production process followed by applying the taggant surfacemarkings in the repeated pattern to the identification fibers to producea portion of the branded fibers; (ii) receiving the portion of theidentification parties from the third party followed by applying thetaggant surface markings in the repeated pattern to the identificationfibers to produce a portion of the branded fibers; or (ii) receiving aportion of the branded fibers from the third party.

A23. The method of embodiment A22, wherein applying the taggant surfacemarkings in the repeated pattern comprises engraving, printing, ormorphological modification.

A24. The method of embodiment A22, wherein the applying comprisesprinting the taggant surface markings in the repeated pattern on thebranded fibers concurrently to producing the standard fibers andcombining the branded fibers and the standard fibers before crimping theacetate tow band.

A25. The method of embodiment A21, wherein the applying comprises laserengraving the taggant surface markings in the repeated pattern on thebranded fibers concurrently to producing the standard fibers andcombining the branded fibers and the standard fibers before crimping theacetate tow band.

A26. A method of characterizing a fiber sample, wherein the fiber samplecomprises fibers of any of embodiments A2-A17, wherein the methodcomprises (1) optionally, separating the branded fibers from the fibersample, (2) applying imaging technology to the branded fibers, and (3)determining the repeated pattern of the taggant surface markings.

A27. The method of embodiment A26, wherein the separating comprisesplacing the fiber sample in a solvent to produce a solution comprising adissolved portion of the fiber sample and the branded fibers andremoving the branded fibers from the solution.

A28. The fibers of any of embodiments A26 or A27, wherein the standardfibers comprise cellulose acetate, wherein the fiber sample comprises aportion of an article comprising the fibers, and wherein the article isselected from the group consisting of a filter rod and a cigarettefilter.

A29. The fibers of any of embodiments A26 or A27, wherein the fibersample comprises a portion of an article comprising the fibers, andwherein the article is selected from the group consisting of fabrics andother textile products, non-wovens, and absorbent products

A30. The fibers of any of embodiments A26-A29, wherein the imagingtechnology is selected from the group consisting of human visualinspection, microscopy, electron microscopy, confocal microscopy, andoptical scanning.

A31. The fibers of any of embodiments A26-A29, further comprisingcorrelating the taggant surface markings and the repeated pattern to adatabase comprising manufacture specific taggants and determining the atleast one supply chain component, wherein the at least one supply chaincomponent comprises a manufacturer of the standard fibers a manufacturesite of the standard fibers, a manufacturing line of the standardfibers, a production run of the standard fibers, a production date ofthe standard fibers, a package of the standard fibers, a warehouse ofthe standard fibers, a customer of the standard fibers, a ship-tolocation of the standard fibers, a manufacturer of a fiber bandcomprising the fibers, a manufacturing site of the fiber band, amanufacturing line of the fiber band, a production run of the fiberband, a production date of the fiber band, a package of the fiber band,a warehouse of the fiber band, a customer of the fiber band, a ship-tolocation of the fiber band, a manufacturer of an article comprising thefibers, a manufacture site of the article, a manufacturing line of thearticle, a production run of the article, a production date of thearticle, a package of the article, a warehouse of the article, acustomer of the article, or a ship-to location of the article.

A32. The method of embodiment A31, wherein the fiber sample comprises aportion of a filter, wherein the filter comprises an acetate tow band,and wherein the at least one supply chain component comprises a bale ofthe acetate tow band.

EXAMPLES Example 1

Nylon monofilament of 0.28 mm diameter was printed using an IDTechnologies® Ci3300 inkjet printer with the code and settings in FIG. 2entered into the printer's graphic design utility. The ink used was anacetone-based proprietary formulation provided by ID Technologies®. Theprinted coding was applied on a continuous basis as the nylonmonofilament was wound onto a spool as is typical in the production ofcellulose acetate yarn. The printer head was placed above the fiber suchthat the printed bars were perpendicular to the fiber and the fiber'smoving direction, ensuring that the ink contacted the fiber. Theapproximate 1 mm spacing between the resulting print marks on the fiberwas obtained by adjusting the width setting on the printer (whichcontrols the time gap between when the bars are printed) and the speedof the fiber (i.e. the surface speed of the winder). Approximately 1000m of encoded or branded fiber was produced.

The spool of encoded nylon monofilament was withdrawn from its packageand fed into the tow band of a cellulose acetate tow production processprior to the crimper. The cellulose acetate tow was a typicalcommercial, “Y” cross section tow item with a nominal 2.8 filamentdenier and 31,000 total denier. The tow with the encoded monofilamentwas crimped, conditioned and delivered to a baler using standardmanufacturing conditions. The tow was not compressed per typical baileroperations.

Filter rods were produced from the tow on an AF2N plug maker at a tapespeed of 300 m/m, forming a filter rod of 120 mm in length of typicaltow weights and Triacetin plasticizer levels used in the tobaccoindustry. The encoded fiber was manually extracted from rods andinspected with a microscope. The printed information remained readilydetectible and quantifiable. FIG. 3a shows a stitched image of a fiberextracted from a filter rod made with the tow containing the encodedfiber. Spacing and clarity of code is typical of all samples similarlygenerated.

Example 2

Example 1 was repeated using a Polypropylene monofilament of 0.2 mmdiameter. Although, as with Example 1, the coded monofilament wasincorporated into the tow band and processed into a filter rodsuccessfully, the printing ink did not adhere well to the fibersubstrate, resulting in a degree of smudging and smearing such that theextracted branded fiber could not be decoded successfully. Although itis believed that a different ink and/or fiber surface modificationswould improve ink adherence, no further work was performed withpolypropylene fibers.

Example 3

The acetate tow band production of Example 1 was repeated using apolyester thread. The encoded thread was manually extracted from thetow. As with Example 1, the encoded information remained readilydetectible and quantifiable. FIG. 3b shows a stitch image of theextracted branded thread. Spacing and clarity of code is typical of allsamples similarly generated.

Example 4

A sample of UHS (acrylic) monofilament fiber with a diameter of 0.193 mmwas marked with a pattern using a MACSA carbon dioxide laser. The markedfiber is shown in FIG. 4. Although filter rods were not produced usingthe pictured monofilament, one skilled in the art would expect filterrod results similar to those of Examples 1 and 3.

Other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art fromconsideration of the specification and practice of the embodimentsdisclosed herein. It will be understood that variations andmodifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of thedisclosed embodiments. It is further intended that the specification andexamples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spiritof the disclosed embodiments being indicated by the following claims.

1. An acetate tow band comprising fibers, wherein the fibers compriseone or more identification fibers and standard fibers, wherein thestandard fibers comprise cellulose acetate, wherein each of theidentification fibers exhibits at least one distinct feature, whereinthe identification fibers comprise one or more branded fibers, whereinthe branded fibers exhibit the distinct features comprising one or moretaggant surface markings, wherein the taggant surface markings form arepeated pattern along a length of the branded fibers, and wherein thetaggant surface markings and the repeated pattern are representative ofat least one supply chain component of the acetate tow band.
 2. Theacetate tow band of claim 1, wherein the repeated pattern comprises analphanumeric code, a digital code, an analog code, or an ideographiccode.
 3. The acetate tow band of claim 1, wherein the repeated patterncomprises metadata.
 4. The acetate tow band of claim 2, wherein therepeated pattern comprises the digital code and wherein the digital codecomprises a binary code.
 5. The acetate tow band of claim 1, wherein therepeated pattern is printed or laser engraved on the branded fiber. 6.The acetate tow band of claim 1, wherein the branded fibers areessentially insoluble in a solvent, wherein the standard fibers aresoluble in the solvent; or wherein the branded fibers are essentiallynot susceptible to solvent bonding with triacetin.
 7. The acetate towband of claim 1, wherein the at least one supply chain componentcomprises a manufacturer of the acetate tow band, a manufacturing siteof the acetate tow band, a manufacturing line of the acetate tow band, aproduction run of the acetate tow band, a production date of the acetatetow band, a bale of the acetate tow band, a warehouse of the acetate towband, a customer of the fiber band, or a ship-to location of the acetatetow band.
 8. The acetate tow band of claim 7, wherein the at least onesupply chain component comprises the bale of the acetate tow band. 9.The acetate tow band of claim 2, wherein a number of digits in thebinary code ranges from 4 to
 100. 10. The acetate tow band of claims 9,wherein the number of digits in the binary code ranges from 4 to
 50. 11.The acetate tow band of claim 1, wherein the length of the repeatedpattern ranges from 10 to 30 mm.
 12. The acetate tow band of claim 1,wherein the branded fibers comprise acrylic, modacrylic, aramid, nylon,polyester, polypropylene, rayon, polyacrylonitrile, polyethylene,cellulose triacetate, or PTFE.
 13. The acetate tow band of claim 5,wherein the repeated pattern is laser engraved on the branded fiber. 14.The acetate tow band of claim 5, wherein the repeated pattern is printedon the branded fiber.
 15. The acetate tow band of claim 3, wherein themeta data comprises read direction.
 16. The acetate tow band of claim 1,wherein a denier per filament (dpf) of the standard fibers ranges from 1to 30 dpf.
 17. An acetate tow band comprising fibers, wherein the fiberscomprise one or more identification fibers and standard fibers, whereinthe standard fibers comprise cellulose acetate, wherein each of theidentification fibers exhibits at least one distinct feature, whereinthe identification fibers comprise one or more branded fibers, whereinthe branded fibers exhibit the distinct features comprising one or moretaggant surface markings, wherein the taggant surface markings form arepeated pattern 10 to 30 mm l along a length of the branded fibers,wherein the repeated pattern forms a binary code consisting of 4 to 50digits, and wherein the taggant surface markings and the repeatedpattern are representative of at least one supply chain component of theacetate tow band.
 18. The acetate tow band of claim 17, wherein therepeated pattern is laser engraved on the branded fiber.
 19. The acetatetow band of claim 17, wherein the repeated pattern is printed on thebranded fiber.
 20. The acetate tow band of claim 17, wherein therepeated pattern comprises meta data and the meta data comprises readdirection.